Flooding hits parts of New Brunswick

Coast guard has been called to help with flood relief work as water levels expected to continue rising.

Authorities in the Maritimes province of New Brunswick have put residents of several communities in the St. John River basin on high alert due to rising flood waters, especially downstream from Fredericton.

The Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) in New Brunswick says residents of Jemseg, Gagetown, Hampstead, Belleisle, Grand Bay-Westfield, Quispamsis, Oak Bay and Saint John, as well as smaller communities in these respective regions, should be on high alert and ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice due to rising floodwaters that could surpass record-setting water levels in 1973.

“We’re looking at the worst flood in 50 years,” EMO spokesperson Geoffrey Downey told Radio Canada International. “There is a number of communities along the river, all of them south of Fredericton right now where the river is rising.”